The Deadly Dragonet
by PuppyLuvr06
Summary: This is a sequel to The Animus Curse Firelily has grown up around three other hybrids, tucked away from the world with an angry NightWing as their captor. They were taken as eggs; but soon they learn what the outside world is truly like... Rated T for possible violence.
1. Prologue

(Randomly switches views mid-prologue)

"Get that moon-forsaking egg already!" Shadowlurker hissed to her daughter, Silencekeeper.

"There's still a dragon in there!" She said, motioning over to the sky hole. In it, not only was a multi-colored egg, but a just barely full grown RainWing who curled around the egg.

Shadowlurker glared at the NightWing-SandWing, and growled. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." She muttered, jumping off the roof of the small RanWing cottage and gesturing for Silencekeeper to follow. "Even if you die, I'm going to teach you how to be useful."

Silencekeeper, well, stayed silent and nodded. Shadowlurker handed her a piece of fruit.

"Throw this into that bush." She instructed. "Maybe hit a dragon while you're at it." Once Silencekeeper did as she was told, Shadowlurker nodded to a tree. "Now climb!" The two dragons climbed up the tree closest to them and the RainWing poked her head outside.

"Hm?" She said sleepily as she looked around. Shadowlurker pushed Silencekeeper out of the tree, and she walked towards the dragon.

"Hello," Silencekeeper said. "What are you looking for?"

Shadowlurker was glad her daughter finally learned something from the other two eggs they stole, and the one they couldn't get away with in time, and shot for the sky hole. Carefully squeezing through, she grabbed the egg just as the RainWing said "Well I better get back to my egg….it's supposed to hatch today."

And right before the RainWing saw Shadowlurker, she was already back to the tree they were hiding in. Silencekeeper flew beside her, then when Shadowlurker turned away, she heard the RainWing crying.

"Come on, Silencekeeper. Our job here is done." She growled to her daughter when she hesitated. Shadowlurker burst into the air, and heard Silencekeeper's wingbeats right behind her a moment later. 'Good. You aren't allowed to get attached to anything. You have to listen to what I say, Silencekeeper, or these dragonets may die. And I'm sure you don't want that, do you?' Shadowlurker thought darkly. Silencekeeper shook her head, but she knew it wasn't because she heard her thoughts. She was just another defect hybrid. The exact kind that Shadowlurker planned to use to get what she wanted.

…

As soon as they got back to their hideout near Jade Mountain, one of the eggs—the one holding a RainWing-NightWing—grew a long crack right down the center. And then another, and another.

"Which one is this?" Shadowlurker asked Silencekeeper as she watched the dragonet pathetically try to claw out of the egg.

"Umbra," Silencekeeper said quietly. "That's what her parents wanted to call her." Then when the dragonet finally made it's way out, it carefully wobbled over to Silencekeeper before sitting down and looking up at the stars.

Then the other egg started cracking, the NightWing-SkyWing. "That one?" Shadowlurker said, gesturing to the egg.

Silencekeeper sighed. "It should be Darklight, but you'll insist on calling her Dimglow."

"Dimglow it is!" Shadowlurker said with a grin. The dragonet tumbled out of the egg and ending up rolling over to Silencekeeper. Umbra batting her playfully. Then finally, as the sun was coming up and touching the final egg, it started to crack. "The final one?"

"That one's Firelily." Silencekeeper said. "Her parents chose the name to represent the two tribes she was born into. 'Fire' for SandWings, and 'lily' for the RainWings."

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need her life story." Shadowlurker said.

Firelily scrapped out of the egg much more efficiently then the other two did, and once she got fully out, she looked around. Once she saw Shadowlurker, she growled. Shadowlurker could hear Silencekeeper quietly laughing, and she flicked the newborn in her direction. Then without another word, Shadowlurker got up and left.

Silencekeeper stayed, though, and pulled all the dragonets in her wings. "Hi," she said quietly, letting them go. They all stared at her with big eyes, all filled with amazement at the sight of the dragon much taller then them. "I'm Silencekeeper. That mean dragon that just passed was Shadowlurker." She looked around, and then continued more quietly. "But don't worry, Umbra, Dimglow, and Firelily. One day, I'll help you back to your homes where you belong. Or at least dragons that can help you. I promise."

Silencekeeper's mind was full of futures. Some where they all died under Shadowlurker's talons for disobeying, but most where they were all happy and living with their parents. All of them loving parents. And if she hurried, she could even see a few futures where Firelily met her brother. Where Dimglow did amazing things with her currently unknown animus powers. And where Umbra found a nice dragon worthy of her time. But she saw all the things that needed to happen before that. One of those possibilities…involved killing some dragons…more specifically, Shadowlurker. And well, after seeing that part of the possibilities, she never saw herself anywhere anymore.

She shivered at the thought and brought the dragonets in. "I promise. No matter what. I. Will. Bring. You. Home." She whispered.


	2. Chapter 1

(Please no one yell at me because Firelily is OP. She was literally my first WoF OC)

Firelily sat in the one spot the sun would touch her scales as she listened to her friends.

"And that's why it's important." Umbra finished, the scales along her spine changing to a vivid indigo with pride.

"Uh-huh," Firelily said. "Because learning how scavengers work is really that important."

"It is!" Umbra insisted. "What if—"

"Umbra, this is seriously just going to start the conversation all over again." Dimglow pointed out. "For the fifth time."

Umbra sighed. "Fiiiiiiiiiiiiine. You win, this time, Firelily. But when you meet a scavenger and want to help them, don't go complaining to me when you don't know how to."

"Like I'd want to help a scavenger." Firelily remarked, getting up and walking over to her friends. "They started this war, remember? Who knows if we could even find all our parents, knowing how much we know about this war."

They all stayed silent for a bit, as if they needed to figure out that Firelily was telling the truth. Which she was. She'd even admit she wouldn't be surprised if her father was long gone, knowing he was a SandWing and all.

The moss curtain that shielding the room from the rest of the caves opened as a dragon walked through. "Mom wants me to tell you, and I quote 'get your moon-forsaking tails to the dining cave, all four of you. NOW!' Exactly like that."

Firelily and her friends nodded. "Sure, Silencekeeper."

"Can you tell us more about our parents?" Dimglow asked, bouncing around Silencekeeper.

"Maybe when it's time for you three to go to bed, okay?" Silencekeeper said with a giggle. "You all know Shadowlurker hates hearing me tell you those kinds of things. Because she thinks we'll turn against her." She gestured with her wing for the three dragonets to step a bit closer, and looked around. "Which we will. Soon. I promise. Maybe even tomorrow night. But don't say a word, or else we're all done for."

"Yeah, but I got this!" Firelily said, flicking her tail up in the air. Umbra and Dimglow flinched away from it, and Umbra even hissed silently. Ever since Firelily was old enough to understand it, she knew her venom was stronger then any normal SandWing or RainWing's, because she had both. Whether from her tail or teeth, almost immediately whoever or whatever they touched where dead. The only one that was immune to it was her, which made sense since it was technically her venom. But that was one of the only reasons she always stayed so far away from everyone else, in case she hurt them.

"NO!" Silencekeeper replied, and they flinched when they looked up at her. She was shaking her head obsessively, as if she couldn't shake the thought of something. "No. That won't work. She's immune to it, too. She made her self that way. She's immune to all of you. Your venom,"—she said, nodding to Firelily—"your mind-reading,"—she continued, looking at Umbra—"And your animus magic."—This was directed to Dimglow, although she didn't really seem to notice—"All of it. She was prepared. But not for me. I have to be the one to do that. Understand you three? You need to be the ones to do nothing, except follow my orders tomorrow night. Okay? This is crucial if you want to ever see your families. I must be the one to face Shadowlurker, or else all four of us would die." She paused, looking as thought she'd fallen into a dark hole of thought, then came back into reality. "Come on, mom's already mad at us as it is. We better not keep her waiting, or else we'll have no dinner."

…

The sun had just gone all the way down before they finally finished eating, saying that Shadowlurker once again told them everything she hated about them before they could start eating. Firelily had to refrain from smacking her with her tail when she called all of them "fat" like RainWings. 'That's your own fault for feeding us,' she couldn't help but think. Though across the room, Umbra face palmed. 'Sorry, I had to.' Umbra mouthed something that looked like "I know you just wanted to" and then went back to doing what she was doing.

Firelily waited for the others, then went back to her own cave. Settling down in her patch of blankets and curling her tail in protectively, then waited for Silencekeeper to get there so then she can tell her about her parents, like usual. Finally, when Firelily was about to fall asleep, Silencekeeper came through the moss curtain.

"Finally!" Firelily said as Silencekeeper sat beside her. "I almost fell asleep!"

"Well it looks like it," Silencekeeper said, smiling. "But anyways. Where were we?"

"When I was still an egg, I think." Firelily said.

Silencekeeper nodded. "That's right. Now, your father had been using the tunnels from the Kingdom of Sand to the Rainforest for a few moons. But today was the day he was going to see his egg—you. He tumbled through the forest, so unused to the unfamiliar place although he's been visiting the same places for months. But finally he got to your mother's little cottage in the RainWing village. And then he realized something. There were two eggs."

"Wait, does that mean I have a sibling?" Firelily asked, listening intently.

Silencekeeper giggled. "Yep, it does. This sibling of yours is probably somewhere in the Scorpion Den with your father. His egg was taken from yours at that point, so then both of your parents could have an egg to take care of. And, well, we both know how that turned out."

"Yeah. Shadowlurker took me when I was still an egg." Firelily said, looking down at her talons. Silencekeeper got up and brushed her wing against Firelily's.

"But remember. Those dragons you see in your dreams—Starseer and Vulture—they were sent by your mother to find you." She reminded her. "And tomorrow they'll be passing through this area. I-I might not be able to make it past this cave, but they can help you and your friends find your families. I promise. All my futures see to it."

Then she walked out of the room, leaving Firelily to her dreams.


	3. Chapter 2

It wasn't hard for Firelily to guess who'd she see in her dreams that night; the same dragons she's seen her whole life. Starseer and Vulture. They said that they were sent by her mother—Hibiscus—to find her and bring her home, and that they were trying to track her location with some kind of Dreamvisitor Starseer's mother had made. Firelily only really believed what they said because Silencekeeper had told her what they said was true, but sometimes she thought they were still just dream dragons. 'Then how would I've seen a NightWing and a SkyWing before?' Her conscience asked, which she simply just growled back to.

And, there they were, Starseer and Vulture, both sitting down in her dream. Yep, that was normal. Considering the mountainous backdrop behind them, Firelily figured out they were somewhere near the mountains they were in. Exactly like Silencekeeper had told her.

Firelily walked over to them casually, nodding to them. Starseer, with her dark purple and blue scales, looked up first.

"Hey," she said, gesturing with her wing for Firelily to sit down.

Vulture looked at Firelily, and she stared back to his red, orange, and yellow scales. She had to admit, in her dreams, he looked pretty with the odd mash of colors. For a SkyWing.

"We think we might've found where your cave is!" Vulture announced.

Firelily glanced behind them to the mountain range. "I can see that." She paused, then continued. "Silencekeeper told me you would be."

"Oh, are you planning to escape soon with your friends?" Starseer asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow night." Firelily said. "Since Silencekeeper said that you'd be crossing the area and could help all of us find our parents."

Starseer let out a dreamy sigh, lifting her head to the sky, showing her silver tear drop scale. "I bet having future-seeing abilities must be amazing."

"I bet it's not." Vulture responded.

"'Coz then you can see futures were all your friends die." Firelily added with a grin. Vulture glared at Firelily, which told her he was thinking the same thing just didn't say it out loud because Starseer was his totally-not-girlfriend, while Starseer seemed to think about it for a while.

"Huh, I guess you're right." She said, shrugging. Then went back to her questions. "So will I get to meet Silencekeeper tomorrow, along with all your other friends?"

Firelily didn't quite know how to respond to that. Last time she talked with Silencekeeper, she also made it sound like she was going to die to help all of them be free. But she also knew that Shadowlurker would be dead, from the other night's conversation with one of her favorite NightWing hybrids. Well, she only knew three NightWing hybrids. She was the only dragon who wasn't part NightWing, though her and Umbra were both part RainWing. "Ummm…well, when we last talked…she didn't exactly sound like she was gonna live to see us with our families."

"Oh…" Starseer's disappointment showed through her voice. Long before now had Firelily known how much she wanted to meet the seer, and it was probably almost heartbreaking to know that she may never meet Silencekeeper. She also knew that Starseer had a seer brother, who was a few years older then her. Knowing that someone else knew another seer probably reminded her of him, and wherever he may be. Vulture put a wing over the NightWing and looked disappointed, too, although Firelily figured he'd be fine as long as Starseer didn't die as well.

There was a silence that stayed, and it gave Firelily time to think. All of them were different. A SkyWing with scales that don't seem to understand what a color code is, a NightWing mind-reader with slightly-lighter dark blue and purple scales, and a RainWing-SandWing hybrid with deadly venom. Yet, they were the same.

Each of them were far away from home. Around the time Firelily's egg got kidnapped and taken to the caves she lived in now, Starseer had ran away from home with strong request from her mother. She hasn't seen anyone from her family since, although she said she was glad to be away from her father. And at the same time, Vulture had fled the Sky Kingdom when his parents were burned to death. He, too, said he hasn't seen his twin sister or younger brother since then.

They all had families they hoped to get back to, although each of them were torn apart by one dragon or another. After Silencekeeper's story that night Firelily had known that she had a brother somewhere out in the world. And although she didn't know his name, she was determined to find him. Along with her parents.

If they were still alive.

It wasn't much longer then that did the three have their normal dream-talk. And then soon enough Vulture and Starseer left her to her real dreams, which were full of what might happen tomorrow night.

She'd watched her conscience pull out scenes were everyone died, and where everyone survived. And some were some of them died, and some of them lived, but they couldn't find Starseer or Vulture.

In short, the night seemed to drag on while she slept, although somehow the nightmares didn't wake her up as much as she tried. Until a gentle push and the sound of someone's voice waking her up.


	4. Chapter 3

"Firelily, come on, wake up!" Umbra said as she shook Firelily awake.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Firelily asked as she got up to look at her friend.

"You've slept 'til noon," Umbra explained as she gestured for Firelily to follow her out of the cave. "So Shadowlurker's mad, per usual. And she left Silencekeeper in charge while she—probably—went to burn some trees. So Silencekeeper is holding a meeting about the you-know-what."

'Escaping?' Firelily asked in her thoughts, and Umbra nodded. 'I've told Starseer and Vulture about it last night. They're around the area so they'll help us later.'

"Oh, it's really that time again?" Umbra asked. Basically everyone but Shadowlurker knew that Firelily was frequently Dreamvisited by two dragons who were sent by her parents. Firelily nodded. "Well that explains why it's noon and you're just now up. Although I knew it wasn't what Shadowlurker said and it's because you're part RainWing. 'Coz so am I, I just don't have parents who care as much as yours, apparently."

"I'm sure they do," Firelily said. If it was anyone besides Umbra—or Dimglow—she probably would've tried to drop the subject of parents. As much as she dreamed to meet them and liked to know more about them, she could never really forget the part why she was in these caves: because her parents hadn't been careful enough. Umbra always thought of the better sides to it all, like if her parents had been tricked into giving up her egg, while Dimglow was just stupidly hopeful. When, in reality, Firelily wouldn't doubt it if someone told her that both of their parents didn't want them. "But maybe they couldn't find anyone to help them. Or they didn't have enough money to pay for it. My dad was an Outclaw, so who knows what he had."

"I didn't think that's how Outclaws worked," Umbra said, doing her deep-in-thought voice. "But thanks, anyways."

They walked across the hard stone floor in silence for a bit longer, until Umbra opened up the curtains to some room Firelily had never been in before. Then she realized, this must be Silencekeeper's room.

As they stepped in, it was no doubt the NightWing-SandWing's room. Scrolls with pictures instead of words on them were stuck to the wall somehow, a nice set of blankets and pillows lay in a far corner, along with shelves lining the walls full of scrolls. She recognized a few of the titles as she sat down between Umbra and Dimglow on one side of the room, with Silencekeeper facing them.

"Is she gone?" Silencekeeper asked Dimglow, who nodded.

"Yes! Shadowlurker left a while ago, and grumbled about not being back until sunset!" Dimglow said. Firelily knew that, since Silencekeeper could see into the future, she already knew that Shadowlurker wasn't there, but she always tried to make all three of them feel equal. Firelily was going to miss that, when and if Silencekeeper left them that night.

"Good, that's all the time we'll need." Silencekeeper said. There was a moment of silence before she started talking again, and even though they all knew no one was here to overhear them, her voice was almost a whisper. "You three are all going to be going home tonight. I promise that there will be dragons who will help you, and I promise that there will not be a Shadowlurker anymore. But then again…I may not be there with you…" For a moment Firelily wondered if she was the only one who got the idea that Silencekeeper was going to die tonight, when Dimglow gasped and Umbra looked a little shocked.

"What?" Dimglow squeaked. She shrunk down and almost looked half her size. "Are you gonna die..?"

Silencekeeper sighed and nodded. "I very well might. I'm the only one who can kill her, so then the rest of you can live. There's very few futures were all four of us live, but most of them involve all four of us dying, because Shadowlurker isn't dead." A few whimpers came out of even Firelily's mouth in the pause. "But I wrote a few things for you to know. When I'm gone, and I won't be able to protect you. These'll keep you safe. Firelily, would you grab it? It's the third scroll on the left in the shelf closest to my bed."

Firelily nodded and took the one that matched her descriptions. She assumed it was the right one as she handed it to Silencekeeper when she saw it had the title "For Firelily, Umbra, and Dimglow" on it. Silencekeeper nodded her thanks as Firelily sat back down.

"This, is something I want you to each read after before we make our strike at midnight. But whatever you do, don't read it out loud or else Shadowlurker would hear you." Silencekeeper said with the scroll in her talons, carefully turning it and looking at it as she spoke. "I used my future-seeing powers to try to do the best I could to look after you when I'm gone. It, like I said, will give you information so then you're safe, but not so much information that you depend on it too much. Just simple things like 'never drink from the tiny oasis outside of the Scorpion Den', because I saw futures where it was poisoned."

They spent a little bit more time discussing what the plan was, like how Firelily, Umbra, and Dimglow were going to wait until Silencekeeper gave the OK for them to leave. And how Silencekeeper was going to kill her mother. And then how the three friends would find Starseer and Vulture and travel across Pyrrhia find their parents.


	5. Chapter 4

(There is a character death in this chapter)

By the time they finished, Shadowlurker was probably going to be there soon, so they dispersed. Firelily and Dimglow went to silently read the scroll, while Umbra helped Silencekeeper with some of the chores.

Firelily led her friend back to her cave, where she sprawled the large scroll across the floor. She was surprised to see so many different things written down, all for only three dragons. Each of them had their own section, so Firelily started reading at the top, which was for all of them, and then moved on to her own section.

'I can't be here with you to keep you safe,' Firelily read, 'but I can give you one last gift. Umbra, never give up hope. And listen to your heart! Do what it tells you to do, all three of you. Dimglow, let your light shine to those you meet. Let them see you're not what they think you are. And Firelily, may your determination and loyalty to your friends help guide you to the place you know you belong. Also: yes, she was exactly like you when you were little.' Then Firelily skipped down to the part meant for her, and read through it.

It was full of things like Silencekeeper had mentioned. Though some were positive like "he's even shinier than you think he is" and almost made Firelily blush. She wished they all had separate scrolls, but by the looks of the one right on front of her, it must've taken Silencekeeper quite a while to get it all done.

When they were both done, Firelily rolled the scroll back up again and opened the curtain with her wing.

"Come on," she said to Dimglow. "Let's go give this to Umbra and then eat something." Dimglow nodded, then trotted out the door. Firelily followed behind her, thinking of everything the scroll had said. Ever since she finished reading the first part, she was more and more worried about what would happen next. Once they got to the dining cave where Umbra was, though, she decided that she hated everything future-seeing related. Firelily liked not knowing what the future would hold, even if what she knew simply just said minor details.

…

Firelily had gone to her cave to try to get some sleep before they escaped when Silencekeeper came in.

"We're almost ready," she whispered. "Come join Umbra and Dimglow. And wait for my signal, remember?"

Firelily nodded and followed Silencekeeper to the dining cave were Umbra and Dimglow waited, both of them impatiently staring at the empty sky and cave entrance—or in this case, exit—and she sat down beside them. Silencekeeper gestured for them to stay silent, and walked up to her mother.

"Hello, Mother." Silencekeeper said.

"What brings you here?" Shadowlurker grumbled. "It's the middle of the night." Her voice wasn't a warm, motherly one, but a cold, I-hate-everyone voice.

"I wanted you to know something." Silencekeeper said. Firelily held her breath and stepped a little bit closer to her friends as she watched Silencekeeper pull out a concealed dagger.

"What?" Shadowlurker hissed. She turned around so quickly Silencekeeper couldn't put her dagger away, and she stared at it angrily. "What's all this for?" She said, grabbing the dagger out of Silencekeeper's hand.

"It's a distraction." Silencekeeper said, thrusting herself at her mother with full force.

'What is she doing?' Firelily thought. Umbra shook her head.

"I have no idea." She whispered. Dimglow nudged herself a bit closer to her friends in response, and Firelily was glad to feel her friend's warmth as they all watched Silencekeeper and Shadowlurker toss each other around in the dining cave.

Blood had already covered the ground by the time Silencekeeper was on top of Shadowlurker. With one swift talon, she swiped a deadly line across her mother's neck. The NightWing gasped, and then seemed to whisper something. Silencekeeper looked scared and struck another blow on her mother. And then Shadowlurker went limp.

"Yay!" Dimglow said, swishing her tail back and forth.

"Not…yet…" Silencekeeper said, catching the breath she'd lost during the fight. "Do not…come out…"

Firelily watched as Silencekeeper stepped to the entrance of the cave, dragging Shadowlurker with her. 'Is she going to leave without us?' Firelily thought, her heart sinking.

"No!" Umbra cried, seconds before Silencekeeper leaned outside of the cave.

Then, the dagger, which had been forgotten on the blood-soaked floor, moved. As quick as lightning, it shot towards Silencekeeper. All too late, Firelily knew what was going to happen.

Silencekeeper closed her eyes as the dagger neared her, and then planted it's sharp end in her heart. She dropped to the ground, limp, as Shadowlurker's body fell into the mountains below.

Firelily, Umbra, and Dimglow all shot to Silencekeeper at once. Umbra was in tears even before the dagger sank into her heart, while Dimglow lay in front of the dead dragon. Firelily tried her best to push away her tears, but they ran down her face anyway.

"She said to find Starseer and Vulture." Umbra muttered. "After…after pushing her into the cliffs."

"How do you..?" Firelily asked.

Umbra lightly pointed to her teardrop scale. "She thought it. Seconds before she died. That's how I knew what she was going to do."

Firelily, full of dread, nudged closer to her friend and rapped her wing around her. The four of them sat there, in silence, while their tears flowed for a bit longer before they all pushed Silencekeeper's body into the cliffs below them.


	6. Chapter 5

They no longer felt welcome in the caves they'd called home for all of their lives, having seen too many things to no longer think brightly about their prison. Firelily went to grab her small bag of things—a blanket and some scrolls she planned on burning later—while Umbra and Dimglow went to do the same to their own things. Only an hour after the death of their close friend and their capturer, they were ready to go.

"What's the plan after this?" Umbra asked quietly.

Firelily shook her head, giving up on trying to think of a good answer. "I don't know. But I guess we find Starseer and Vulture, and go from there."

"Who has Silencekeeper's scroll?" Dimglow asked next. She and Firelily looked over at Umbra as she dug through her own bag for a moment before pulling out a scroll. Firelily easily recognized it as the scroll Silencekeeper had given them to keep them safe during the years following her death.

"I do," Umbra said as she put it back in again. "Now let's go. Too many dark things about this place." She glanced over at the still-bloody dining cave where Silencekeeper had fought for their freedom.

'Well, Silencekeeper,' Firelily thought, not really thinking about Umbra reading her thoughts or anything. 'I promise. I'll protect them, like you protected us when it matters most.' She paused, wondering if she was really doing anything other than just letting Umbra realize her weirdness through her thoughts. 'And I'll remember he's shinier than I think.'

Umbra gave her a "what does that mean" look before they all shot into the sky.

They flew near the ground, saying that it would probably be best if they stayed near the ground since it would be easier for Vulture and Starseer to see them. While they flew, Firelily constantly thought Starseer and Vulture's names, knowing Starseer was a mind-reader like Umbra. She even thought for Umbra to do the same. She feared anyone in the mountains hearing them, so she didn't bother even whispering it to Dimglow; she was on the other side of Umbra anyways. Firelily would've had to reposition herself to get over to her.

As a slight glow of the rising sun shone itself through the peaks of the mountain, Firelily started to hear dragons talking nearby. It sounded like they were having a casual conversation. About Firelily and her friends. She suddenly started to get scared until she realized who the voices belonged to: Starseer and Vulture.

"Wait, Vulture, stop thinking!" Starseer's voice said.

"How do I—" Vulture began, before he was interrupted.

"Just SHHH!"

Firelily gestured for the others to stop flying as she landed on the ground. 'Starseer, Vulture, we're here.' Firelily thought, hoping to lure Starseer over to where they were. They couldn't be that far away if Firelily had heard them pretty clearly; they may even be on the other side of the trees and bushes that laid across the hillside.

Soon enough, a rustling came from the bushes in front of them as two dragons emerged. Firelily was greatly relieved to see Starseer's purple and blue scales, and Vulture's red, yellow, and orange ones, too.

"Are they..?" Dimglow asked, although Umbra stayed silent. If Firelily could guess, Umbra already knew who they were by mind-talking to Starseer.

"Yes," Firelily said. "Dimglow, Umbra, meet Vulture and Starseer. Starseer, Vulture, meet Dimglow and Umbra."

"Moons, it's really you!" Starseer said, rapping her wings around each of them in a hug. Firelily growled at her in response. "Oh, sorry, I guess I got a little carried away."

"All of your parents are gonna be so happy!" Vulture remarked, gesturing with his wing for them all to follow them back to their camp. "We can stay here until noon, and then we head back out."

"All of our parents?" Umbra repeated. "I thought just Firelily's parents sent you to look for them." They all circled around a small blazing camp fire as they talked, while Vulture pulled out some meat with an apologetic "sorry, this is all we have" look and handed a piece to each of them.

"They did." Starseer said, staring into the fire. "But when you've been looking for a dragon since she was an egg—like, five years—you come across some other facts. Like how we Dreamvisited Firelily and learned that she wasn't alone." She paused, and nodded to the three friends, who know ate the meat they were given without much thought of how burnt it was. At least Firelily didn't. "Firelily, we know where your parents are, of course. You might even be able to see your brother when we visit the Scorpion Den." Firelily smiled with the idea of meeting her long-lost brother, and she was pretty aware of her scales changing to a golden yellow mixed with pink. One thing she hated about being half RainWing: sometimes she swears her scales change whatever color they want to without her brain's permission, thus letting the whole world know her feelings. "Umbra, we've gathered some information from Firelily's mom that your parents live in the Rainforest." Umbra seemed to perk up a little bit, and the spikes along her spine—the only part of her that could—changed color to a vivid pink. Firelily was glad she wasn't the only one who let her emotions get the best of her here. "But…Dimglow…" Starseer trailed off while trying to address the SkyWing-NightWing hybrid.

"What?" Dimglow asked. Firelily felt sorry for her. Whenever Starseer trailed off, she was normally about to say something bad. Not to mention the tone of regret and sorrow in her voice Dimglow apparently didn't notice.

"You're mother—the SkyWing—is dead." Starseer said. Firelily was pretty sure if she was a RainWing, her scales would be changing gray. She looked a little happier after the pause. "But we think your father may come to the Rainforest now and again, so we'd be able to reunite you with him! If not, I'd risk going back to the NightWing Island so then you can see him." Firelily knew how much of a risk that would be for her, and she could tell Vulture highly disagreed with that plan, but they decided to talk later after they'd all had a little more sleep. Then they would explain their traveling plans.


	7. Chapter 6

Once they had all slept a little more, they sat around the fire again, which Vulture was trying very hard to douse.

"If only we had an IceWing," he joked, after it finally burned out. "Then they could've just used their ice breath."

"I don't think ice breath works that way." Starseer remarked with a grin. Firelily just rolled her eyes.

'Seriously? You can flirt with him later, scavenger-brain.' Firelily thought, forgetting Umbra could read minds until she looked at her. "I'm talking—or thinking or whatever—to Starseer." She explained. Starseer looked over.

"Oh, sorry," she said, not quite sounding that sympathetic though not mean either. It was her normal "oh right I'm ten and I'm helping five year-olds" tone that Firelily hated. If not because she only used it when talking to Firelily when she was annoyed at Starseer, then because she acted like they were two months old. "Vulture, tell them the plan."

For a second, Vulture looked brain dead, like he was thinking of something else before Starseer talked so he needed to figure out what she said. "Right, the plan." He said after a short pause. Being face-to-face with the two dragons who dreamvisited her ever since she was old enough to remember, Firelily wondered exactly how she was able to put up with them that long. "So, since we were sent by Firelily's parents, we decided we'd head to the Scorpion Den first. That's were, presumably, Cactus and her brother are. Then we'd gather up our supplies and move out again to the Rainforest. Then we find the rest of your parents."

"What are you gonna do afterwards?" Dimglow asked, her tail swishing beside her. Firelily knew she was directing the question to Starseer and Vulture.

The NightWing and SkyWing looked at each other. Firelily rolled her eyes as they blushed.

"That is something between us, don't you think?" Starseer finally said, looking back at them.

"But, I think we may settle with trying to find our own families." Vulture added.

'And make them,' Firelily thought. 'How do you not have an egg yet, again?'

Starseer stared at Firelily, and she grinned. She knew she should probably be nicer to the dragons who were bringing her to her parents, but she didn't really feel guilty about it either. Then Starseer seemed to realize something and eased her own glance, it wasn't hard to assume she had just mind-talking with Umbra.

They dispersed once again to grab their things and eat one last time until they set out for the desert. Vulture didn't make it sound like they would be stopping until they get to the Scorpion Den when he talked about their flying route, unless if they pass an oasis and someone needs a drink. He also advised Umbra and Dimglow, along with Starseer, to fly a little bit more closer to the ground, since they were all darker-scaled and would get hotter faster. All he advised Firelily was to either think of happy thoughts so her scales turned light colors, or looked like a SandWing. She didn't quite now how she'd look like a SandWing completely, although she guessed from afar if her scales were the right color she'd look like a thin and small SandWing. Maybe.

Then they started flying in silence, and Firelily had time to think.

Not only would her friends be more obvious—saying she kinda looked like a SandWing and Vulture was a SkyWing, which were on Burn's side, and Umbra and Dimglow were almost obvious hybrids. Firelily didn't know much about the SandWing sisters who were the reason the war was going on, but she knew who was on who's side and that Burn hated hybrids.

But somehow, another, happier thought poked itself into Firelily's head: she was going to see her family. After only hearing stories about them, she was finally going to meet them. And her long lost brother.

With the two conflicting thoughts, worrying about getting caught yet so excited to be meeting her family soon, she was half-conscience about some of her scales trying to change color. She tried her best to keep them under control as she saw the gates to the Scorpion Den, and as they landed in front of it.

A SandWing was guarding the door. Vulture stepped up to him.

"What do you want?" The guard asked.

"I am Vulture of the SkyWings, and with me I bring Starseer the NightWing, Umbra the RainWing-NightWing, Dimglow the SkyWing-NightWing, and Firelily the SandWing-RainWing." Vulture replied smoothly. Firelily wondered how much courage it took him to even step near the guard, nonetheless talk to him, given Vulture's past.

The guard stepped back. "Welcome to the Scorpion Den. Cactus would be happy to know that his dragonet it found." The door opened and they all walked in.

From this moment, Firelily could hear her heart pounding as she took in the place in front of her. A place of dragons. Of SandWings. More importantly, her father and brother.


	8. Chapter 7

(And for the moment we've all been not waiting for...let the Frostlily shipping, begin!)

After getting to a small area that wasn't as populated by as many SandWings, Starseer and Vulture went to find Cactus and left Firelily, Umbra, and Dimglow to wander the few merchants stalls. Firelily left Umbra and Dimglow to be dazzled over some pieces of jewelry while she wandered to another stall. Then she saw something; a pretty little necklace that almost shimmered in the sunlight. Firelily walked up to the merchant and nodded to it.

"I got…" Firelily began, before she realized she had nothing. "Uh…a NightWing friend who could see what your girlfriend thinks of you." When he wasn't pleased, she lifted up her tail and grinned to her fangs would show. "Or, I could not kill you." She really didn't mean it, at least not towards this dragon she didn't even know the name to, and he seemed to know that.

"Where's your parents?" He asked. "I'm not selling anything to a kid."

"My dad's an Outclaw." Firelily replied.

"Try something a little better than that." The merchant said. "Because you just gave me a better reason not to give it to you."

"I hate you." Firelily remarked as she turned away.

"We're at war, kid, hate's all we got. Now go find your parents."

Firelily rolled her eyes and walked back to her friends, before the whole area got quiet as it sounded like a dragon landed behind her. She turned back around to see an IceWing staring right at the merchant, a casual grin on his face and icy blue scales. Firelily realized that she was probably looking at the dragon Silencekeeper was referring to when she wrote "he's shinier than you think he is".

"If I had a say in it," the IceWing said, as if it didn't seem like the whole Scorpion Den shushed at his presence to mere whispers. "I think you should give the lady what she wants. Trust me, you do not want to make a hybrid mad." Firelily looked back to her friends to see if they were watching as the merchant shakily handed the IceWing the necklace.

"Yes, Frostbite, please just don't kill me." He said.

'Frostbite,' Firelily thought, watching the IceWing as he walked up to her. 'Now I know his name, at least.'

Frostbite bowed in front of Firelily and her friends. "Frostbite of the IceWings, at your services." He nodded to Firelily with a smile, holding the necklace in his talons. "May I?" Firelily nodded, a little too shocked by the proper introduction and a lot too distracted by the way his scales shined in the sunlight.

'Moons, Firelily, pull yourself together!' She thought as Frostbite put on the necklace. 'He's just…a really cute and shiny and handsome and—ME! Stop thinking, right now! Stop it!' When Frostbite was done, Firelily shot a glance at Umbra for giggling.

"What? It's adorable!" Umbra said.

"Of course it was. So remind me when it happens to you to scream on the top of my lungs about it." Firelily said. Dimglow squeezed through and looked at Frostbite.

"Um…if I may ask, why did everyone stop everything when you came?" Dimglow asked. Firelily noticed that now the chatter was coming back from before Frostbite came, and realized that was probably a good question.

Frostbite sighed, and nodded to a tent. "I'll tell you inside." He gestured for his wing for everyone to get inside before he continued. "A while ago, I…kinda almost killed one of the shopkeepers." Firelily was speechless, but she could tell Umbra was seeing the image in his head.

"You're an animus, aren't you?" Umbra asked quietly.

"Yes." Frostbite responded, looking down at the ground. "Over two years ago, Queen Glacier tasked me with killing every hybrid I come across. She also didn't want me dead before I could have an egg with her daughter, so she commanded me to enchant one of my scales to make me immune to any hybrid attacks and such." Frostbite paused to look up at them. "And after that moment, I could feel my soul slowly chipping away. Worst part is, just one animus spell—even one to protect my soul—would no doubt leave no soul left…and I know far too well that it won't be long until I actually kill somebody that I love."

There was a bit of stunned silence. Firelily couldn't imagine the thought of knowing that you were going to kill everyone you love, and didn't want to leave behind if you died for them to be safe. She almost skipped over the fact that he was supposed to kill every hybrid he saw, although she decided to wait until a little later to question him. Umbra was quiet, too, Firelily could only imagine what she was seeing from Frostbite's mind. And Dimglow looked deep in thought.

"Wait, I have an idea." Dimglow said. Everyone looked at her. "I'm an animus, too! I can save your soul for you! Then you won't kill the dragons you love and you can have dragonets with Firelily!" She paused, and Firelily glared at her. "Oops, did I say that out loud..? I mean it though, Umbra's right, you two are adorable." Firelily growled, and Frostbite gave Dimglow an uncertain look. "My soul's protected, don't worry. I've cast several spells, and I remember the words I used for each one of them. Including the one to protect my soul. Now gimme your talon, coz you don't seem like the jewelry kind of dragon." Without really waiting for Frostbite, she took one of his talons and muttered something. Firelily didn't bother trying to listen, knowing it was probably nothing important or anything she'd want to hear.

She could tell Frostbite was speechless when Dimglow backed away. "Thank you…"

"No problem!" Dimglow said. "Now you can be happy, and use animus magic whenever you want to! I like using my powers to help my friends, and I think Firelily—"

"Shut. Your. Big. Mouth." Firelily interrupted. Dimglow shrugged and smiled.

"There you are!" A voice said as Starseer and Vulture entered the tent. "Firelily, your father and brother are outside!" Starseer looked over at Frostbite. "I see you've made a new friend, too." Firelily nodded as she followed Starseer back out, knowing that her friends were behind her.


	9. Chapter 8

Outside of the tent stood a tall SandWing and a smaller dragonet that looked so much like Firelily, with a RainWing's body yet dark SandWing eyes and scale color. She tried her best to keep her scales under control as Starseer walked up to introduce them.

"Cactus," she began, a smile on her face. "This is your daughter—Firelily."

Cactus smiled as he brushed a bit of sand off of Firelily. "So this is her." He said, his voice soft with the happiness Firelily could only imagine coming from seeing the daughter he thought was gone forever. Firelily couldn't help but feel very happy, too. "My daughter. It was almost worth waiting five years to see you. Almost. Your friends could've brought you a little sooner."

"You know, finding a dragon through their dreams is a lot harder than it may seem." Vulture remarked. Cactus just stared at the SkyWing in response. When he backed away from Firelily, she was surprised when the dragonet beside Cactus rapped his wings around her. She couldn't help but feel comforted by the slightly bigger dragonet's wings around her.

But possibly a little too soon for Firelily's liking, he pulled back. He grinned in a kind if awkward way. "I guess I should've told you this before I hugged you, buuuuuuut," he said. "I'm Sidewinder. Your brother."

Firelily could barely manage a phrase as she wrapped her own wings around her brother. "I know." She liked the kind of warmth that came from being this close to a dragon.

"Aaaaaawwwww." Umbra muttered. "Family reunion!" Firelily stepped back from her father and brother to look at her friend.

"Oh, shut up." Firelily said. Dimglow and Umbra giggled together, while Frostbite walked up to Cactus.

"Uh… I see your daughter is my friend." He said casually. Though Firelily could tell there was some form of unease in his voice.

"No, I'm not letting you get away with something that easily." Cactus said.

"Yeah, you gotta be his friend to do that." Sidewinder added. "Which is kinda impossible."

Cactus looked down at his son. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that this once." Then he glanced back at Firelily and her friends. "Why don't you stay in the Scorpion Den for a day or two? Then go find Hibiscus and your other parents." He shot a glance over at Frostbite, and then back at Firelily. "Just…be careful. Even with the Outclaws, the Scorpion Den can be a dangerous place if you talk to the wrong dragons."

And with that, Cactus and Sidewinder walked away after Sidewinder gave a wave goodbye. They all went back inside Frostbite's tent to talk about several things like their leaving plans.

"Well, there's a tunnel that leads from the edge of the desert to the Rainforest." Starseer explained. "So we'll head there to save some time and find Hibiscus and your parents, Umbra. Then all we can do is hope that Dimglow's father's somewhere in the Rainforest as well."

"I was wondering," Frostbite said, looking down at the floor. "Since I'm pretty good with finding dragons…if I could come along? Not to mention how we're in Burn's territory and her hatred for hybrids. And, no offense, but you all look like you'd be really bad at fighting."

There was a bit of silence, but Firelily thought it was sweet of him to want to come with them. She looked at the others. Her opinion of the IceWing was probably a lot different then everyone else's. But to her surprise, even thought it took a while for everyone to, they all nodded in agreement.

"I'll admit I haven't needed to fight—nor do I hope it has to come down to it—for over five years." Vulture said. "We could always use an extra pair of talons."

"Because the rest of us have literally never fought in our lives." Dimglow added in.

Frostbite looked happily shocked. "Thank you. Helping to protect the dragonets who helped save me from the animus curse is just about the least thing I could do." He looked over at Firelily. "And I'd like to help bring you back to your parents." Then he seemed to sit a little straighter as he addressed everyone. "I'll leave a note to my half-sister—Kori—saying that I've gone with you. She's off to the nearest part of ocean to visit some of her relatives, and she told me she wouldn't be back for a few more days. Then maybe she won't think I got kidnapped or I went crazy. Maybe."

After a bit of silence, they started talking about a bunch of random stuff. From Starseer and Vulture getting to know Frostbite to just about anything else that had nothing to do with it.

Soon, though, they all went to sleep after having a small meal. Firelily had a weird dream about her parents and her brother and Frostbite and her friends. It was an odd dream that really couldn't be explained, but near the end it was like Frostbite went crazy and killed everybody.

…

A day later, after saying goodbye to her father and brother, they were ready to leave. Frostbite let Vulture and Starseer use a map he had to figure out what direction they had to be in while he wrote the letter to his half-sister.

And as the sun rose up, Firelily and her friends were on their way to the Rainforest. She hoped nothing bad would happen while she imaged how her mother would react.


	10. Chapter 9

They all laughed as they talked while they flew, as if they weren't in unknown and enemy territory in a middle of the war. And soon enough they stopped when they reached the tunnel that would lead them to the Rainforest.

"I'll go last." Frostbite offered. Starseer nodded although Vulture took the lead, everyone else following.

Firelily kept on getting more excited by the minute when she started to hear birds chirping to each other. And even more excited when she stepped out of the tunnel into the rainforest. She waited for Frostbite, having a question on her mind for him. Firelily let everyone else get a bit farther ahead than them before she asked, though.

"Why did my dad not like you?" Firelily asked, once she was beside Frostbite. They started walking, and she accepted the silence that followed her question until he replied.

"To be short, he never liked me." Frostbite answered, glancing over at Firelily. "When I first came to the Scorpion Den with my half-sister, he was guarding. And back then it was instinct to say my full IceWing title, including being an animus. Then it only really got worse from there when he found out I was sent to kill hybrids and I was slowly going insane." He looked away again, now watching the ground move past them as they walked. "Your father might've also seen me kill a hybrid. But I'm telling the truth when I say I only kill the ones who'd rather be dead. And now that I realize it, he was probably more worried for you and your brother, being hybrids."

"Thank you for telling me." Firelily said quietly. She was shocked when Frostbite twined his tail around her's, and he smiled at her.

"Believe me, it isn't the hardest thing to talk about." He said. "Try any one of my family members next time. Moons, are my opinions and feelings about that mixed up." She smiled back at him, although she didn't quite realize her scales turning crimson, but she let them for once.

"Hurry up! We're almost to the RainWing village!" Firelily heard Umbra shout.

"Coming!" Firelily shouted back, untwining her tail and running over to the sound of her friend's voice. She heard Frostbite behind her.

She stopped once she reached everyone else. And in front of her, was the RainWing village, she knew it. Some RainWings were sunbathing, while others were playing with sloths or other animals. All Firelily could do was follow Starseer.

"I'll show Firelily to her mother," Starseer said. "Vulture, you go and help Umbra find her parents. They should be right outside of the village, according to Hibiscus." Vulture nodded and lead Umbra out of sight.

"And I could help Dimglow find her father." Frostbite suggested. "That is why I'm here."

Firelily could tell Starseer was a little more than a bit uncertain about letting Frostbite help. 'He's trustworthy, believe me,' Firelily thought, and then Starseer nodded. "Okay. We need all the help we could get." When Frostbite and Dimglow walked away, Starseer turned to Firelily. "Now let's go find your mother."

Firelily once again let her scales change whatever color they wanted to, being aware of the yellow and pink swirls growing to cover her whole body, as they got closer to her mother's cottage. But before they got to the cottage, Starseer stopped to talk to another dragon.

He was a tall RainWing with an odd blue tint in his scales, almost turning his yellow scales green. "Hey, Starseer, what's up?" For a second Firelily questioned how this RainWing knew Starseer, then she remembered that she and Vulture had probably come to the Rainforest often to give a report to Firelily's mother.

"We found Firelily." She said simply. The RainWing's eyes grew wide as he looked over at Firelily.

"Why didn't I see it before?" He said. "You look so much like her! Stay here, I'll go get Hi."

Firelily looked over at Starseer, a little confused still. Though soon enough the NightWing saw her gaze and answered it. "That was Palm. One of your mother's friends." Firelily nodded, satisfied.

"Firelily..?" Someone said. Firelily turned around to face a fully grown, female RainWing. She looked so happy she could cry, and her scales reflected that. Nonetheless, Firelily nodded. "I…I thought I lost you forever. Come here." Then she wrapped her wings around Firelily, and she started to hear her mother's soft crying. "Hello, my little blossom. I'm Hibiscus. And…I am sorry for ever leaving you…but now…we could be a family… You…me…your father…and your brother. Together."

Firelily liked the sound of that. But she never realized until now everything she'd experienced wouldn't have happened if Hibiscus hadn't have lost her egg. She would've never have met Starseer and Vulture, no matter how annoying they were sometimes. She would've never become friends with Umbra and Dimglow, or Silencekeeper. And she never would've met Frostbite, who could very well be the love of her life. Everything and everyone who made her who she was, she wouldn't have even known existed if Hibiscus would've been careful. So, for the first time when thinking on the subject, she was happy that her egg got kidnapped. Happy that her life wasn't the only one disrupted. Happy that her capturer had a daughter. Happy that everything that happened…happened.

And the best part was that she knew it didn't end here. There was more to be done and so many more places to see and things to do.

…

Everything had worked out. Except for where they would live now.

Soon enough, they decided to go to an island big enough for all of them not far away from the Rainforest, so then they'd be close to their parents. It was too close to the Rainforest for any tribe to really claim, so it was the perfect, war-free place. Even Frostbite only went back to the Scorpion Den to bring his half-sister there, after deciding to stay with them. If all went well, they'd live happily there. Together. They'd be family. And they'd be happy. And Firelily couldn't help but focus on the bright side of things.

(And that's the end! Until I finally get around to writing the story about Starseer and Vulture! Wish me luck on getting there, and I hope that you enjoyed this! More fanfics coming soon, hopefully!)


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